Sunday, March 25, 2007

Hail, hail the gang's all here

Q: What do you get when you bring together 6 George Washington grads and a Georgetown grad thrown in for good measure?A: tons of old stories, lots of fun and just a pinch of trouble:-)

This weekend I had the pleasure of welcoming Erica, Rachel, Anuradha, Jennie and Carl to Brooklyn Heights (Daniel, a fellow Colonial and BHeightser rounded out the group.) After a late start on Saturday morning, our first stop was The Cornelia Street Cafenear the W4th subway stop in the Village. Cute and modern but not pretencious, the cafe was a great place to go with a group. We were seated quickly and there was something for everyone on the menu. I recommend the huevos rancheros and others raved about the eggs benedict, eggs florentine, quiche and omlette. Apparently the cafe also has jazz and other performances in the evenings.

Stop number two was Chinatown where we picked up Anuradha who had taken the Chinatown bus from Philly. That was a sight (and smell) adventure! On the one hand, we did find Anuradha and a great fruit and veggie market at the base of the Manhattan Bridge. On the other hand, there were some smells that definitely caught me off guard. (I'll go back for another look... but before it gets too hot out!)

We then walked up Canal, scoping out the 3 for $10 scarfs, "designer" handbags and high quality bling along the way. I think Canal is more crowded with tourists than mid-town...craziness! We window shopped through Tribeca and the heart of SoHo and then headed west to a charming part of SoHo, Thompson and Sullivan Streets between Broome and Houston. I was there earlier in the week at The Room (which I highly recommend for groups of friends or for getting cozy on the comfy couches) and thought it was definitely a go-back-to part of town. The area is peppered with cute restaurants and cafes and a fun mix of she-she botiques (for people and dogs), a kimono store and a yarn stop. We had coffee at Cafe Borgia II on Prince Street. I now see that it has mixed reviews on some of the restaurant websites, but we all thought it was a decent, quintessential NY cafe.

Grimaldis pizza was on the menu for dinner. We added Carl's sister-in-law from Sweden to the group and were pleasantly surprised to get seated in 10 minutes (unheard of at this NYC establishment where waits at 8:30 on Saturday could have taken 30-40 minutes.) The smell of warm pizza that greets you from the moment you open the door is intoxicating. We started out with 2 large pizzas and quickly ordered a 3rd because it was just that good!

The evening ended at the Henry Street Ale House, the low-key but slightly loud watering hole down the street from my apt.

Seeing my DC friends in NYC is bizarre because it reminds me of how bizarre it is that I live in the city. But I feel blessed to have friends who want to visit and I can't wait for the next weekend we are all able to get together!

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

What fun!!!Glad that your old group got to have a weekend together! (Plus a few new friends!!!)Perfect weather too!!I still think you all have to make the time to recreate the fabulous photo Erica's sister took. How many years has it been since the picture?Love you,Mom oxoxoox